Like a Train Wreck - 57. Chapter 57: Thrill Kill

"Oh my god! Miracle, you're on the news!" Dayna screamed from the living room.

Miracle walked into the living room where the whole house was gathered, relaxing together for the evening. He munched on a chip from the bag he was holding. "What?" His eyes shifted towards the television.

"Scammers and frauds, it seems to have become a trend to share these people in action as a way of warning others, or maybe it's just a fun way of entertaining? Either way, this scammer was hot in action at a car dealership for the classic psychic." The news woman smiled before the video played, thankfully his face was blurred but his voice was clear.

Jaemin looked at Miracle. "I told you."

"No you didn't!" Miracle stared at the television.

"Why don't you tell me my future, personally?" The man asked, leaning forward.

"Well.." Miracle looked at him. "I don't think it's right that you keep pumping me for personal gain under the pretense that you're trying to verify my eligibility for this job."

"He had the camera in his tag!" Miracle screamed at the television.

"At least they blurred your face." Issac stared at Miracle.

Erica's eyes narrowed. "I...am pissed." She stood up and looked at Craig. "Tell me I can sue them. They put my son on television, they secretly recorded him!"

"Miracle, I said I was going to let you try it on for size...and this is how it fits." Jaemin frowned, staring at the television as the news went on to other stories.

"They can't do that to me." Miracle shook his head.

"This is life, you make bad choices and you deal with the consequences." Jaemin shook his head.

"What kind of boyfriend are you?!" Miracle turned and looked at Jaemin. "You're supposed to protect me!"

Craig looked at Erica and slowly shook his head. "The news blurred his face, kept his identity, if they even were given his identity or knew of it."

"And I will." Jaemin stood up. "I was trying to let you learn a little bit. If I knew this...would of happened. I would of protected you!"

Miracle looked over at Craig. "I want him put in jail. I can sue him for pain and suffering, right? You know how I feel about being filmed and victimized! This isn't funny." Miracle crossed his arms. "I mean it...I want this man taken care of."

"Craig, you need to go to that place and do something!" Erica screamed, wanting to grab something breakable and throw it at the wall. "If you don't, I will, and it won't be pretty. I'll go and wreck one of his cars, fuck him! I'll go to jail for my son!"

"Calm down!" Craig sighed and stood up, a frown on his face. "Look, we could take action, really though, is it going to undo it?" He looked at Erica and then looked at Miracle. "Is it going to undo how it just made you feel? Is it going to erase the video?"

"The video?" Erica's eyes widened. "You need to have the FBI going on there and finding all of them and taking them down!"

"Erica, please calm down. It could be so much worse." Craig shook his head.

"The news blurred his face out, how do you know there aren't unblurred versions out there?!" Erica turned around and grabbed her purse from the couch. "Fuck that, I'm going to go and wreck the nicest car he has on the lot!"

Miracle slid down the wall to sit on the floor and covered his face with his hands. "It was just supposed to be a joke...at best." His shoulders shook and he pulled his hands down, tears staining his face. "Why did they have to do that?"

"Because that man is a stupid bastard and he's going to see an awful fortune, just like you predicted!" Erica started for the door only to be stopped when Craig wrapped his arms around her. "Let me go!"

"No! I'm not going to let you make a mistake!" Strangely, Craig seemed to remember doing this exact same thing with Miracle a while back.

Issac and Dayna could only watch the scene, unsure of how to really react to the situation, the siblings were pretty stunned in the moment.

Jaemin lowered down in front of Miracle and cringed at the fighting parents and he took Miracle's hands. "I am so sorry..."

Miracle slowly shook his head. "I knew it, the big bad world, the one I never wanted to go into."

Erica sighed and swung around and stumbled away from the door. "You can only stop me for so long. I'll get to him..." She threw her purse at the couch and ran a hand through her hair to clear it from her face.

Craig looked at Erica. "Just stop and think. You're a mother, your son needs you, do you want that man to take you over, take your judgment over?"

Erica slowly shook her head. "I don't know how people do it, have shit done to them and just let it go. I don't understand it..."

"It's called being better and knowing what your real priorities are. Put that man at the bottom where he belongs. You crash one of his cars, will it make you feel better? Maybe, until the police come and he laughs as you get hauled off." Craig stared at Erica, hoping that it got through to her.

Erica shook with anger and then looked down. "You're right, he gets the last laugh." She said, defeatedly.

"Yeah, he does." Craig sighed.

Miracle walks into his room with Jaemin and shuts the door. "I don't care what Craig says, I wanted that mans car wrecked." Miracle looked down at the floor.

"Yeah, and your mom to go to jail?" Jaemin shook his head. "You don't want that."

"He didn't have to do that to me! It was a harmless joke!" Miracle screamed and then shook his head and took a deep breath and silently cried. "I mean, really? Like I was really someone to be warned about? I wasn't even trying all that hard!"

Jaemin walked over and pulled Miracle close, holding him. "It's okay, people will forget, things blow over, they didn't even show your face." He closed his eyes. "If I had any idea, I would of protected you from that."

Miracle cried as he went into Jaemin's arms and then pulled away a moment later. "This is why I just wanted to stay at home and be safe, that's where you're safe." He walked over and sat down on the bed.

"I pushed to hard, I told you to go for it. Maybe..you're not ready to...be trusted completely with...life." Jaemin said, thoughtfully.

Miracle wiped his face with his hand. "Ya think?" He said, sarcastically.

Jaemin sat beside Miracle. "I pushed you out, now I'll pull you back, protect you, keep you safe and...hope that next time I try to let you go that..you will be okay." He shook his head. "Hell, it wasn't even just your judgment, it was mine too. I should have seen bad ten miles away, but I just figured you would have fun with trying, get a laugh and at worst, not get the job."

"I want him to know what he did to me." Miracle looked up at Jaemin.

"You want me to go see him, tell him? I'll do that, trust me, I'll have plenty to say to him and by the time I'm done, if the man has a conscience, he'll be sorry." Jaemin nodded.

"You know what else? You could make him look really bad, the news might want to get a feedback story, they would eat it up." Jaemin suggested.

"They would pity me? After that? I mean I was the one going around the job, messing with it." Miracle shook his head. "I don't think I should do that, keep it going."

"You didn't know better, you just meant to have fun."

"Did I? What if he hired me? Would I have took it? Would I have actually tried to pull it off? I talked about it." Miracle said.

"Well, you obviously cared about that mans job. It showed, if people aren't blind." Jaemin shook his head. "But, yeah, maybe it would be better not to make a big thing of it."

"If I change my mind, they have to black my face out. My voice, hell they already have it." Miracle sniffed a little and wiped at his face again.

Erica walked into the bed room and shut the door, locking it. "Damn if I won't make him pay." She looked down at her phone and then walked off into the bathroom and shut the door, locking it and moved over to turn the shower on, hitting Jeremy's name and she brought the phone to her ear.

"Erica, again. Figured out how you will explain the money?" Jeremy answered.

"This isn't about the room." She said with a shaky voice.

"Woah, what's wrong?" Jeremy asked, concerned.

"Obviously you don't watch the news. Miracle tried to become a psychic at this car dealership and the fucking jerk had a hidden camera and recorded it and the whole thing ended up on the news. They blurred Miracle's face out and kept his identity but I don't care, it upset him, understandably so, given that he was exploited that way as a child."

"You're kidding." Jeremy frowned.

"I wish. I want you to take him out, make him disappear." Erica said.

"Woah, what? Erica, that's insane."

"Why? Don't they do that? The CIA, they make people disappear."

"Conspiracy theories. If they do, I'm not in that part." Jeremy said.

"God, can no one do anything? Can't you get someone to blow up his dealership? Maybe wreck all of his cars? Make him pay? Can't you do anything?" Erica almost wanted to scream.

"Erica, calm down. I can see why you're angry." Jeremy said, remembering how she used to get like this.

"You didn't see his face, he was horrified, upset, thinking about how that bastard David used to victimize him with the camera, it took him back there. He was so upset." Erica lowered down onto the floor and started to cry. "And all I want to do is make that man pay."

Jeremy was silent for several moments, the anger building as he listened to Erica cry, thinking about Miracle and how he couldn't be there for him right now. "I'll deal with the man, it won't be some big bang revenge but I'll have my words."

Erica took a deep breath. "No, don't. Forget that I asked, you risk blowing your cover. You can't risk that now that you've come back, you're so close."

"I hate shutting my feelings down and pushing them back, so here's what I'm doing. I'm giving you the money for that room, you say that you won the lottery, let it fall as it will, I know that you will keep the secret no matter what. Call me in a couple of days and we will set up a meet and I'll bring the cash in a case." Jeremy said.

Erica sighed. "Okay, he needs the room, it'll make it better." She cried. "Jeremy, you don't know what it did when you left..."

Jeremy's eyes watered up. "I wish I hadn't of left...but we have to let that go. You have a husband now...whether or not that marriage is valid, I still have to check that for you. Kinda be funny if it's not." He smiled, wondering if it would bring up any amusement.

Erica smiled. "I know, but...still, no one will ever be you." She cried and shook her head. "I should go before we get caught. Bye." She pulled the phone away and hung up and then tightened her grip on it as she cried ever so quietly.

Jaemin walked into the dealership and walked over to the desk and looked at the man sitting behind it. "Where is he? The guy that talked to the one that applied for the psychic job?"

James looked up at Jaemin, seeing that he was clearly upset and he frowned. "I knew he shouldn't of done that." He nodded over to Stephen who was coming out of the office. "That's him."

Jaemin turned around and caught sight of Stephen. "Thanks." He said to James and walked over to Stephen. "I need to talk to you."

Stephen looked at Jaemin and smiled. "What can I do for you?"

"First of all, don't blow me off or it's going to get real ugly, and I don't care if I go to jail for it. I have a few things that I want to talk to you about. We can be mature about this, if you know how to be mature." Jaemin stared at him.

Stephen frowned and nodded towards his office. "Follow me." He turned around and headed into his office. "Close the door."

Jaemin walked into the office and closed the door and took a seat across from the desk. "Are you aware that the boy that you filmed ended up on the news last night?"

Stephen grinned. "I am." He looked at Jaemin. "Those kind of people, they bring it on themselves when they try to fraud their way through life."

"It wasn't about fraud. It was simply a joke, he wanted to have a little fun. He didn't know any better. His mentality isn't exactly up to date with his age, did you consider anything before you did that to him?" Jaemin stared at the man, angered but calm.

Stephen stared at Jaemin. "And what if I gave him the job?"

Jaemin shook his head. "I don't know, clearly, if you paid attention, he cared about the man that he was throwing under the bus, if you paid any attention to that. I want to tell you something though, something that he probably wouldn't want me to tell you."

"And what would that be?" Stephen sat back in his chair.

"When he was a child...he was filmed and victimized...if you know what I mean." Jaemin stared at Stephen and then leaned closer to the desk. "You humiliated him, did it to him all over again, maybe not in the same way, but things trigger people. He didn't mean any harm."

Stephen frowned in reaction to what he was told. His eyes shifted down towards his desk. "I had no idea."

"Well now you do. He cried his eyes out, said he was just joking, wondered how you could do that to him. I understand that there are people out there that seriously try to cause harm in that way, he truly didn't know any better." Jaemin shook his head.

Stephen looked up, at a loss for words.

Jaemin stood up. "I really hope that you can't live with yourself after doing what you did." He turned around and left the man's office.

Erica walked down the hall of rooms and knocked on the door of the room that she was instructed to go to and took a deep breath.

Jeremy opened the door. "Get in."

Erica walked inside and turned around as Jeremy shut the door. "Won't they get the hotel footage?"

"I wore a hoodie, used a different identity." Jeremy looked at Erica. "I have the authority to create identities at my own will. I checked into several different hotels, rented several different rooms, under several different identities. Maybe I dropped a key card, some guy thought he got lucky, a free room."

Erica grinned. "And they don't get mad at wasted funds?"

"They have a lot of money to spare and they don't mind spending it to keep things under wraps." Jeremy walked over to the bed and opened a black brief case. "There's three million here. Now, the lottery usually gives you a check, do you have your own checking account?"

"Yes." Erica said. "Just hope the bank doesn't get suspicious."

Jeremy looked at the money, thoughtful. "Here's a better story." Jeremy looked up. "Max..."

"Max." Erica frowned and sat on the edge of the bed. "I have not thought about him in forever."

"I told him that I had a safe full of money, given the time line, it was supposed to be for Rachel and Skylar, should anything happen to me. Since you were all okay with not watching my video, and Max's loyalties were with you, maybe he wrote a letter to you, withheld the information from Rachel. You finally read the letter, you went to the safe and found the money that I left." Jeremy explained.

"I would have to leave town for days in order to make that story fly." Erica said. "You know? Going to get the safe?"

"Maybe Rachel has the safe, not the combination. I didn't want her to dig into the money, it was for her future if something happened to me." Jeremy stared at the money.

Erica laughed. "And if that bitch comes to my house and blows it all up? That would be just the thing to happen to me."

Jeremy closed his eyes. "Okay, my life insurance, after missing for so long, the company declared me dead." He looked up at Erica. "Is anyone really going to check into it or analyze it?"

"Okay, so I lost the paperwork when I moved out, thought it didn't matter, the army didn't come and tell me you were dead. Finally they decided to deliver the goods. Maybe it's because I remarried, maybe I called about it, concerned about whether our marriage was legally over. That's when it all happened but I didn't expect anything without factual death, then I get the money."

"There you go." Jeremy nodded. "The money is yours." He looked up at her. "Give our son his dream room."

Erica stood up and pulled the case close and then shut it and fastened it securely. She then looked up at Jeremy. "I'm sorry I cried on you the other night. I just think about those times."

"I have too." Jeremy looked up at Erica. "I remember one conversation, sticks out to me more than anything. The last Fourth of July we had. We sat on the beach and you looked at me and you told me that you were scared, that you thought everything was going to change, that all the good times were going to go away, you didn't want anything to change. It was like a prophecy."

Erica nodded. "And you said, nothing had to ever change, it was in our control, we could always be the same if we wanted to be." She looked away. "When you said that, did you already plan to leave?"

Jeremy shook his head, tears forming in his eyes. "No, I really believed what I said."

Erica nodded, wanting to cry. "It was all so perfect..." She sat down on the bed again. "And I try to share so much of it with Miracle, but...he will never know, he will never remember the experience, not like we do."

Jeremy walked over and sat beside Erica. "He still has a chance to create a good life, we just have to get him through...the mistakes we made."

She closed her eyes. "He can never have that here, in a city?" She looked at Jeremy. "He needs to find someone special, he already has, and then...he needs to find somewhere beautiful to live."

"You can't recreate for him. That might not even be the life that he wants or needs. Just because it's what worked for us..." Jeremy shook his head.

"I guess." Erica looked away.

"Is he in treatment?" Jeremy asked.

Erica shook her head. "That woman he was seeing in Nevada wanted him to be, but after that fake psychologist, Jordan, I just don't know."

"Well, he should be and...as much as I know you will hate this, as much as I hate the idea, maybe you should let Rachel do it? I get the feeling that she wouldn't do anything to hurt him anymore."

"Shes a school counselor, shes not even qualified." Erica glared. "She let her daughter die, shes not qualified!"

"Well, take him back to the clinic where Jordan was at. It's a real clinic, trust me, I investigated it myself. They were horrified when they discovered the truth about Jordan, I am sure that they are far more careful now." Jeremy suggested. "He needs to be in treatment."

"Okay, I guess I have to let you parent a little, if through me. I know it must hurt you that...you can't do it openly right now."

"It does." He looked at the brief case. "And make his dream room happen."

Erica nodded and grabbed the brief case and stood up. "Uh..won't it look weird on camera if I walk out with it?"

"I got a fix it for that." Jeremy walked over to the window and opened it and looked out into the alley below. He looked around, seeing that no one was there to see. "I got a dart gun, I can tranq anyone who tries to get it, throw it out and into the dumpster."

Erica looked at Jeremy. "Smooth." She walked to the window and then tossed the brief case out and watched it land in the dumpster. "Three million dollars in the trash." She mumbled and turned to leave.

"Hurry, go." Jeremy said, watching the dumpster like a hawk.

September 2009

Erica smiled as she opened the door to see Drew and Jonathan from 'Property Brothers' and their crew. "Hey guys! Come in!" She briefly looked at the camera man and then stepped aside to let everyone in.

"Hi, how are you?" Drew smiled at Erica, the camera man recording them.

"I'm good." Erica grinned. "So, we're not looking for a new property. Actually, my son just needs a new room and I just thought of you guys, so I just made the call." Erica walked towards the dining room and took a seat along with the brothers.

"Okay, that works, what did you have in mind?" Jonathan asked.

"Well it's a tall order." Erica said. "He wants a room above the garage, so there will be construction involved. However, I want interior stairs so that it still feels part of the house." She waved towards the living room. "I was thinking you could put the stairs on the far side wall of the living room."

Drew nodded, having looked over the living room when he walked in. "We would have to gut the fire place to do that."

"Oh go ahead, that things ugly and brick, I don't care about it." Erica laughed.

Jonathan smiled at Drew and then nodded. "So what do you have in mind?"

"Well, build the stairs and then, maybe cut a circle out of the roof in the stair way and put a skylight in it. That would be cool and then inside the room, he wants hunter green marble floors. Then he wants theater lights in the ceiling, white, sure, but he wants the option to change the colors, even an automatic fade function, oh and a brightness choice would be great too." Erica nodded. "There's a lot more."

Drew slowly nodded. "Go on."

"Okay, he wants a chandelier above the bed, same lighting options as the theater lights."

"That would mean LED lights." Jonathan said. "So maybe a crystal chandelier with lights in the crystals."

"Probably have to be custom made." Drew said.

"That would be gorgeous!" Erica grinned.

The brothers slowly nodded.

"Okay and he wants a corner to corner, ceiling to floor window, on the side of the house, we have safety issues with the front." Erica's eyes widened. "And we need a bunch of curtains that will fit on it, red, satin, that matches his bed. And then on the wall, beside the bathroom door..."

"Wait, there is a bathroom too?" Jonathan asked.

"Yeah, a bathroom too." Erica nodded.

She smiled. "On the wall, beside the bathroom door, mount his fifty inch television and then, where his bed room door is, have that in the middle and then on that entire wall, above the door and on the entire wall, backsplash it with river rock and he wants gold lights and at the sides of the door and all the way across, a waterfall fountain. His bed will go on the wall that faces the front of the house, in the center, so that's where you put the chandelier." She paused. "In fact, make the ceiling cathedral ceilings, extra nice."

Drew covered his mouth to hide the grin that broke out on his face.

Jonathan cleared his throat. "And the bath?"

"That will go on the back side. Continue the green marble floor so it matches, he wants a gold garden tub on a pedestal with steps that go up to it and a ceiling to tub window, maybe two that length with the tub and meet in the corner, of course these are fog windows, so you can't see. He wants a shower with a rain shower and seats, and he wants gold sinks. Continue the theater lights in there, maybe another matching chandelier above the tub." Erica nodded.

Craig walked in the door at that moment, seeing the camera man and then the two men and Erica. "What's going on?"

"He doesn't know?" Jonathon asked, concerned.

"Oh, don't worry, my names on the house too." Erica smiled and got up and ran over to Craig. "They are from HGTV...now you have to leave, everything is going to be a surprise! Go stay in a hotel!"

"HGTV?" Craig's eyes widened at Erica, not finding this funny at all. He looked at the camera. "What have you done?"

"It's not what I've done, it's what's going to be done." She opened the door and then leaned up and kissed Craig. "Now go! They can only fit so much footage! They'll probably edit you out!"

"I'll leave, but you call me when they are gone, I'll be back by tonight, regardless." Craig stared at Erica, clearly upset and then he walked out.

"Oh boo!" She swung the door shut and walked back to the dining table and sat down, her smile reappeared. "Okay and if I have extra money, I wouldn't mind making some minor alterations in other parts of my house."

"What exactly is your budget?" Drew asked while Jonathan wondered if they should even be here.

"Three million." Erica said. "And all I want extra, take that living room furniture, rip that flowery crap off them, make them black leather, real thing, not a knock off. A black and silver coffee table, maybe a set with some end tables, glass tops. Then just rip that horrible carpet up, put down some white marble for a boom contrast and run it down the hall and into my bedroom. Oh and do it to this awful dining room too. Oh! And exchange this table out, same size, but make it glass and silver."

"Mom? What are you doing?" Miracle walked in with Jaemin.

Erica gasped. "Oh! And here is my son! Come here!"

Miracle's eyes widened and he walked over.

"Sit down!" Erica pushed out a chair and yanked Miracle down. "This is my son! He deserves that room so much. Miracle, this is Property Brothers! They came from HGTV to make your room happen! Then we can put you on cribs!"

Jaemin's eyes widened as he stood in the kitchen.

"Mom..." Miracle looked around. "Uh...hi." He smiled.

"Okay!" Jonathan smiled. "That's a tall order! We will come back and let you know what we come up with."

Erica smiled. "You do that, I'll be here."

Drew waved at the camera man so that he would stop filming and he took a deep breath and stood up and forced a smile at Erica and headed out with his brother and the camera man.

Miracle watched them leave. "Mom, they probably freaked out at the list of what I wanted." He looked at her. "And how did you even get the money?"

Erica looked around. "Uh..well, before I married Craig, I did some calling to make sure my marriage to your Dad was officially finished, you know, since he wasn't declared dead and stuff. Well they said that it was terminated and um...well, then his life insurance money came in and they said that he was officially declared dead. I didn't think they would, without a body or anything."

"But he's not dead. Eric said so." Miracle said.

"So what? I took the money, no one has to know." Erica shook her head.

"If they find out, they'll make you pay it back." Miracle said. "I watch lifetime, I know."

"I'll fight it, not my fault I didn't know, and they decided to jump the gun and declare him dead." Erica rolled her eyes. "Lets just enjoy it. I got three million dollars." She grinned.

"What do you think your Mom has done?" Jaemin asked, shutting the door to Miracle's room.

"I don't know, but we're going to see the apocalyopse of fights between her and Craig." Miracle turned around to look at Jaemin. "And it's not going to be funny."

Jaemin leaned back against the door. "Do you think she found your Dad? What if he's a multimillionaire?"

Miracle stared at Jaemin. "Whatever she did, she is in trouble."

Jaemin grinned and started laughing. "They should film it, might not be typical but they will get some ratings."

"What if Eric sees me? He'll know for sure that I'm here. He probably saw me on the news, face or not, he knows my voice." Miracle walked over towards the window.

"I doubt Eric is a worry, he's wanted for like half a dozen charges." Jaemin said. "Part of me wants to say, maybe he's out of our lives for good, maybe we won."

"A man doesn't hunt someone for two years just to give up because he gets wanted because of a crime scene and witnesses testimony. Anyone that knows us knows that we want to get him out of our lives."

Jaemin looked down. "Which reminds me. I can't get it out of my head, the way I held that gun, he laid there helpless, I had my chance to pull that trigger. I was so close, I can't even describe the feeling, it was like finally getting our resolution."

Miracle turned around. "Was it just resolution or the thrill of the kill?" Miracle asked. "I'm not saying that you're a sick and twisted murderer, but...you haven't done something like that in a long time, maybe when you mix the two, it was such a great rush for you and then..it just didn't happen."

"I had good motive for killing Brad, he deserved it." Jaemin frowned. "Melanie...was a mistake that I would take back if I could." Jaemin walked closer. "When you were in the hospital, I killed Nancy's date."

Miracle looked up at Jaemin. "Nancy's date?"

"I was outside of Sterling's house, that's how I knew that you were rushed to the hospital. He was dropping her off, I took him at knife point, forced him to drive me to the hospital. I could of let him go...but I killed him and then...I blew up his car and ran into the woods near the hospital. That was senseless, I was ruthless that night. I went on, kicked Sterling down the stairs, such a thing could of killed him, though I didn't have killing him on my mind when I did it."

Miracle turned around. "Wow, Jaemin, any other victims I should know about? Even if they seem insignificant to you?"

"No." Jaemin shook his head. "That was my first and only...thrill kill, I guess you could say."

Miracle heard his phone ring and walked over to pick it up. "It's the car dealership."

Jaemin's eyebrows lifted. "Answer it."

Miracle answered it and put it on speaker phone. "Hello?"

"Hi, this is the car dealership, Miracle, right?" Stephen said.

"What do you want? You already tortured me. You recording this call too?" Miracle sat on his bed.

"No." Stephen said. "I didn't want to call sooner because I didn't want it to seem fake."

"Didn't want what to seem fake?" Miracle asked.

"Look, first of all, I apologize for what I did and I'm sorry I can't take it back. I want to fix it. So..I was wondering if you might be interested in a car? Free ride, anyone of your choice."

Miracle looked around. "Jaemin poured my sob story, didn't he?" Miracle narrowed his eyes at Jaemin.

"I hope you won't be mad at him, it's probably none of my business what happened to you and he really didn't go into detail. I just realized that after he visited me that what I did really hurt you, so I hope you would accept my attempt to make it up to you." Stephen said.

"So a car? What about a job? Would kind of make me feel worth something." Miracle looked down, idly scratching the top of his comforter with his index finger.

"Well, you're no psychic but...you know how to tell people what they want to hear." Stephen smiled. "How about it?"

"Free car still on the table?" Miracle asked.

"Sure thing." Stephen said.

"Okay, I'll come get my car and after that, you tell me my first day so I can arrive in my new car." Miracle smiled. "Oh, and one more thing, no more filming people and being cruel to them like that."

Stephen laughed a little, one of sincerity. "Done. I think you're a really good kid, I just needed someone to make me realize that."

Miracle looked up, feeling his emotions rise. "Yeah." He said, his voice cracking up a little. "I'm a good kid, in a bad world."

"It's not all bad, you just have to be careful. For now, be excited about your car and I'll be one more person that looks out for you."

"Thank you." Miracle hung up. "Wow, Jaemin, you must of worked wonders."

Jaemin watched on, surprised. "No, it's a man's conscience. He just needed a push in the right direction."

Miracle sat down at the table and looked at his dinner and then looked up at his Mom and Craig, seeing how they stared at each other. Issac and Dayna hadn't been aware of it but he and Jaemin were curious as to what was going to happen.

"So, Erica...how are you paying them for it?" Craig asked.

"Before we got married, I checked to make sure my old marriage was terminated. Then they called me back, said he was declared dead and gave me the life insurance. Three million dollars." Erica took a sip of her wine.

Craig grinned. "That's very convenient. So..Miracle's Dad just unwillingly pays up for his room by being missing in action."

Erica took a bite of her mac and cheese and shrugged. "Not my fault. They made their minds and gave me the money."

Dayna and Issac looked up, curiously.

"And out of everyone, you have to go be on HGTV?" Craig asked.

"I didn't know who else to hire. I saw them on television." Erica looked up at him.

"Besides, why do you care? They will probably edit you out because you ruined the scene. And so long as you stay out, you won't be on it." Erica grinned.

"So, the life insurance company, what's the name of it?" Craig looked down at his food.

"I don't know." Erica poked at her food. "They said that the way he had it set up was that I was to be mailed a key to a safety deposit box. They mailed me the key, I just ripped the mail open and threw away the envelope. I took the key and went to the safety deposit box and there was the check." Erica's eyebrows lifted.

Jaemin looked over at Miracle.

"Where's the trash?" Craig asked, concerned and yet getting upset as he felt he was being lied to.

"I done threw it out, to bad it was trash day." Erica said.

Craig looked up and lightly pounded his fist on the table, not hard but enough to jar everyones attention. "Erica."

Erica dropped her fork and looked up at Craig. "I don't understand. I got the money for his room, it's happening. Why can't people just be happy?!"

"Because I want to know how you really got the money." Craig said in a firm tone.

Erica narrowed her eyes at him. "I fucked a mob boss for it! Happy?" She stood up and grabbed her plate and walked into the kitchen, dropping it on the island.

"Kind of like how Miracle hired a hit on Brad." Jaemin mumbled.

Miracle looked at Jaemin and then shook his head.

Craig followed Erica into the kitchen. "This is not a game! That is serious money, I should know what you did to get it."

Erica closed her eyes and then turned around and looked at Craig. "Okay, you want the truth?! I'll tell you!"

Jaemin grabbed Miracle's hand and pulled him up and closer to the kitchen, curious to see what Erica would say.

"I'm all ears." Craig said.

Erica stood there, quiet for a moment. "It was from Max." She said.

"Max?" Craig looked at her.

"He saved me from my abusive ex...and he got shot and died for it. He died in my arms." Erica frowned. "He knew he was playing a dangerous game messing with Jake. Max loved me, he loved me and I would never love him back and then he saved me and that night...I made his dreams come true and Jake shot him." That part was the truth.

Craig looked at Erica, sympathetic.

"Well, his family found a letter, a request that he made in case anything happened to him. He wanted me to have the means to get away from Jake, money, a place to go, he wanted me to be able to start a new life. Three million dollars would do that and a lot more. Sadly they didn't find it until all these years later, they decided to honor his wishes anyway." Erica said, making up this part of the story.

"Why did you feel like you had to lie about that?" Craig asked.

"Because it hurts to talk about Max." Erica said, and it did, it hurt to think about it. "So..now that you know, can't you all just be happy that I can do this for my son?"

Craig nodded and walked over to Erica. "Why don't we go for a drive?"

Erica nodded and the two walked out of the kitchen.

Miracle watched them and then he looked at Jaemin. "That's so sad, to have someone that loves you so much, they die for you."

Jaemin looked at Miracle. "I hope you really don't think it's sad, because that is what you got...right here."

Rachel worked on picking the lock and when she heard the click, she looked around and slowly opened the door and stepped inside Miracle's home. She left the door open and walked across the living room and looked down at Issac who slept peacefully on the couch.

"I'd rather be doing this to Erica..." Rachel mumbled and then leaned down close to Issac and lightly shook his shoulder. "Precious one...wake up." She grinned.

Issac made a face and then opened his eyes and looked up at Rachel. "Who are you?" He started to sit up, alarmed.

"The school counselor." Rachel then brought a syringe around and stuck it into his neck and injected the medication.

Issac's eyes widened and he trembled and shook, almost violently, then his eyes fell shut and he fell back against the couch. Rachel pulled the syringe out and stood up as two masked men came in and hauled Issac up and carried him out. Rachel looked down the hall and then turned to follow the men out, shutting the door behind her.

Rachel followed the men out to the black limo that was pulled up outside and she climbed into the back and sat down as the men laid Issac across the floor of the back.

Eric's eyes narrowed and he leaned forward and looked down at Issac. "You scarred me."

"I don't get it." One of the men yanked his mask off as the limo drove off. "Why not just grab Miracle?"

"Jaemin is with him." Eric said. He sat back and grinned. "Besides, I have a score to settle first, and one might just bring me the other." He looked down at Issac who laid helpless and unconscious on the floor of the limo.